Perthshire
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- Aug 7, 2011
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Is Brian Habana the greatest South African ever to play the game??????????
who in your opinion is the greatest South African exponent of the game then??????????Nowhere near the greatest, but an extraordinarily talented man in full flight.
Is Brian Habana the greatest South African ever to play the game??????????
No. He can run quick, that is about it.
Is Brian Habana the greatest South African ever to play the game??????????
Take nothing away from Habana, he has been a brilliant servant of the game and has had some amazing highs as well as some very mediocre seasons.
To compare him to Lomu is perhaps a stretch. Lomu's 15 tries come off just 10 games and 2 WC's. (Including 4 tries against England In the 1995 semi)
This is Habana's 3rd WC and I'm sure he has played far more than 10 matches to achieve his 15 tries.
In addressing who is the greatest I think it depends on the era. The game has evolved so much and especially in the pro era. I would rate a few players for this accolade. Keeping in mind that they each had different strengths that set them apart. Os du Rand, Joost vd Westhuizen, Mark Andrews, Andre Joubert, John Smit.
Then there is the cold years (1970's and 80's) when SA didn't get to participate fully on the international scene. There were some very talented players in that era who just never got the opportunities yet were giants of their time. Uli Schmidt, Danie Gerber, Rob Louw, Louis Moolman, Theuns Stofberg, Moaner V Heerden, Gerrie Germishuys, Morne du Plessis, Piet Visagie, Jan Ellis, Hannes Marais.
And the there is the unluckiest non-springbok of all time - Thys Lourens.
To point this out - he did beat Lomu's record of tries scored in a Rugby World Cup...
But he did have an extra World Cup to do it in.
Lomu 15 tries in 11 RWC matches - Habana 15 tries in 15 matches. Perhaps the more interesting comparison is that the majority of Lomus tries came against tier 1 nations (13), while I believe Habana has only scored 3 against tier one nations.
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No, not yet anyway! They are tied on 15 now.
Joost was my favourite player as well - he was amazing! SA have had many great players, so hard to pick a sinlge one, but Joost was a joy to watch!Habana may well be the best wing ever in SA but not anywhere near the best winger in the world. As far as the best player for SA ever not in my life time. I think
Joost vd Westhuizen is. Won't comment about the years they were out in the cold.